1 Samuel 17 & Homer's Iliad & Odyssey

This is just a short post on somethings that I have been studying this summer.

Christopher Nolan's theatrical interpretation of Homer's Odyssey releases today in theaters. Coincidentally, I have spent the summer researching the ancient civilizations of the Minoans (c. 3000–1450 BC) and Mycenaeans (c. 1600–1100 BC) who ruled the Aegean Sea and laid the foundations for what became Ancient Greece. The Mycenaeans also happen to be the Greeks found in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. But many historians believe that Homer's epics were written in 8th or 7th century BC, and they were written from ancient historical records (most likely an oral tradition that was later written down). — Side note, this is a typical theory for any written tradition including the bible; however, I don't find it entirely convincing. With any theory, there are strengths and weaknesses that need to be addressed along with assumptions that need to be clearly recognized and conveyed.

Now, here is a conjecture that I have been researching and studying in my free time: there seems to be a tradition carried on in the Mycenaean culture that is brought to Canaan by the Philistines, and that history influences one of the most epic battles in the Hebrew Scriptures — the battle between David and Goliath as recorded in 1 Samuel 17.

Again, this is not a developed argument and mainly conjecture, but it is something I want to research more and possibly write on in the future. But here are the threads that I have been seeing:

First, it has often been noted by historians that the Sea Peoples were partially responsible for the Bronze Age Collapse, normally dated to 1177 BC. The Sea Peoples were not just one group of people but made up of many different peoples from the Aegean Sea. This is also true about the terms Minoans and Mycenaeans as they refer more to multiple groups of people united by language, culture, and geographical locations. One of the particular groups of the Sea Peoples were known as the Peleset, which almost certainly refers to the Mycenaeans who were defeated by Pharoah and settled in Canaan. The Peleset then are the anestors of the Philistines who came from the Aegean Sea and settled in the land of Canaan. Furthermore, there is archeological evidence that the Philistines were descended from Mycenaean culture since much of their potery is of the same design as Myceneaean potery but uses material native to the land of Canaan. In short, the Philistines are of Mycenaean descent.

Secondly, the Battle of the Valley of Elah between Goliath and David contains similar themes from that of Homer's epics. To be clear, I am not saying that the writer of 1 Samuel took this idea from Homer. That would be a silly arugment since 1 Samuel was written in the 10th century BC and Homer's epics were written hundreds of years later. Rather, what I am saying is that the echoes of epic tales from ages before influence how the Philistines and Goliath approach this battle with Israel.

• In Homer's epics, the gods play a vital role in how the battles go in the Iliad, while in the Odyssey they become enforcers of divine justice.

• In 1 Samuel 17, Goliath curses the name of the God of Israel for a period of 40 days. Why? Well, I would conjecture for two reasons. 1) The Philistines had expeirence the power of Israel's God years prior in 1 Samuel 4-6. 2) These memories of ancient past where their gods interviened in the Trojan War. Goliath's cursing was a test to see if the LORD was there in the valley.

• 1 Samuel 17 is based around this premise of one-on-one champion battle. Goliath as the champion of Gath comes and challenges the champion of Israel — supposedly King Saul, but in reality the shepherd boy recently and recently anointed David.

• In the Iliad, there are four major champion battles, but the two most important happen in book 3 between Menelaus and Paris to determine the rightful husband of Helen, and then the final champion battle between Achilles and Hector that occurs in book 22.

• Lastly, I would conjecture that Goliath was probably thought to be some sort of demigod in Philistine culture. Much like Achilles was also considered to be a demigod.

Therefore, the Philistines see themselves as the next great iteration of the Greek armies, and they have come to their own Troy, that of the walled cities of Israel. And Goliath wanting to be like his great hero Achilles challenges the king of Israel to champion battle to decide the fate of their war.

So here is my final thought and what I want to pursue in my personal study — there seems to be an echo of the source material, the epic legend that formed the Iliad, that appears in this great battle between Goliath of Gath and David of Bethlehem. But unlike Troy, Israel would not fall that day. It would be the prince of Israel who slayed the supposed demigod, not by spear or sword, but in the name of the LORD.

Again, this is not a well developed argument. I am just getting some thoughts together and putting them on paper so that I have a direction to pursue.